...I'm BACK!!!

Hola amigos. 

Well, I guess it's been a while since I last wrote on here. But better late than never, right? Granted I was out of the country for about 23 months, so I'll use that as part of my excuse:)

So let's talk Argentina for a sec. Words cannot describe how much I feel for Buenos Aires. That place will always be special ground for me. There I learned and grew as I had never grown or learned before. There I recognized that I have a testimony of Jesus Christ and His Gospel, and that His church is on the earth today. I could go on and on and on, but I'll just end it right there and you can contact me if you want the details, or the pictures:). 

And then I came home. It was great to be able to see my family again after two years! And getting back on the boat to get some slalom skiing done. Getting back into the normal routine was a little tricky; coming home you think you will have so much time, but it keeps seeming to run away from you! But eventually I was able to establish a new routine, and then I was thrown into college, which changed up everything all over again! Seriously, pretty much all of my day is spent in class, studying, or working. I probably should be doing some studying right now, but I figured I'd give myself a few moments to attempt to at least update my blog, given the long absence. 

So, here I am. I'm at Utah State University studying marketing and minors in Spanish and sustainable systems. I'm working at the USU Testing Center, which I actually enjoy quite a lot. I'm currently serving as the FHE co-chair in my YSA ward, which is also really fun. With so much going on, sometimes it's a bit difficult to find for everything I should be doingI. I've had happiness and disappointments. My 30 minutes of scripture study if often done well into the night, my prayers are frequently muddled form an exhausted mind, and I find myself still susceptible to the same weaknesses and temptations as before. Why can't I be as good as I want to be?!

What a blessing it is to have found the answer to that question while I was on my mission! Perfection was one of the topics that I enjoyed most to study, and I'm glad I did because I'm it is still helping me. One example that I love from the scriptures is the parable of the talents. I tend to think that I am one of the two-talent people and not a five-talent one. Sometimes I can look around and we see other people that have five talents and take these five talents and get 10 and I'm just there with two  trying to make four, not even coming up to other's original amount. But what I like in the Scriptures is that God says it doesn't matter how many talents we have. It doesn't matter if we're the greatest, all that matters to him is that we are getting better we are trying to improve every day. I'll admit that I do still look around me and think that other people really seem to have everything going whole lot better than I do, but I know that we're all in the same boat here. 

I don't really know where I was going with this... but I know that we can become better as we follow Christ. We may not be perfect or have five talents, but we can become perfected and turn our two talents into four, then to eight and sixteen. So I'm going to keep being Brock, I'm going to keep trying to improve as I strive to follow the Savior. I invite you to do the same:)

Life is good.

Look at us, almost halfway through April! Wowzers, I'm not very good at the whole up-to-date sort of thing, sorry. But these last couple months have been quite the wild ride, accepting scholarships, college decisions, singing, Exec... and it's been so fun! I seriously have loved these past few months because everything is starting to fit into place for my future. So yay!!! I'm also seeing some of present coming to a close. Not so yay, but hey, that's life for ya. So here have been some of the big moments.

...I'm a Huntsman Scholar (well kinda)!!!

So through January and February, I focused a fair amount of my time on applying for the USU Ambassador Scholarship. Ambassadors are a leadership position and are known for going to their assigned high schools and try to recruit students to join their college or university. One of our friends in the ward who works in the business department at USU recommended I try out for the positions, and I thought it sounded like fun (and like some free $$$) so I went for it. During this time the same friend recommended I apply for a position as a Huntsman Scholar, which is the Honors Program for the  Huntsman School of Business. I was not as enthusiastic about this to begin with, but I completed the application anyways after lot's of pressuring from the parentals (tip: listen to your parents; they know best most of the time).
I got called back for interviews for both scholarships, and it was exciting! I thought the stars were really aligning for the Ambassadors, but one day I got home from school and I was received my rejection letter from the Ambassador's team. I felt pretty chapped, I'm not gonna lie. But later that night I received an email congratulating me on becoming a Huntsman Scholar! I really don't know how qualified I am to be one, but when one door closed another one opened. My plan has been to major in business (specifics not yet figured out), and the more I find out about the program the more excited I get to be a part of it.
Technically I'm just a Huntsman Scholar Candidate; you're not considered a Scholar until you get reaccepted your junior year. BUT LISTEN TO THIS. Once you get in your junior year, you get to do a half a semester abroad with the other scholars! Isn't that so cool?! Yeah, I'm pretty pumped.

...I'm a Sterling Scholar!!!

Sterling Scholars is an organization that's intention is to bring more attention to scholarship, leadership, and service in high school rather than just to athletics. I participated in the Vocal Performance category, and it was seriously whales of fun. And that is a lot of fun.

Preparing for Sterling Scholar was a LOT of work. After getting the receiving the award on the school level, I had to create a portfolio with LOTS of essays which took LOTS of time to complete. Shout-out to Aunt Laurie for being my personal editor:) After completing my portfolio I submitted it to the committee and was advance to the semi final interviews! And after that I advanced to the finals for the Wasatch Region! I'm sooo grateful for this new talent of singing I've found these past few years. It's brought so much joy to me already and I can't wait to see where it has yet to lead me.

PS: I'm third from the left if you're trying to find me in the picture:)

 

New Exec, Old Exec

On March 28th, the Mountain Crest Executive Council announced who will be taking over their positions for the 2015-16 school year. I still remember the day I was sworn in last year and given the position of Student Executive.

 

Exec has been one of the best parts of my senior year. I have such admiration for my fellow members and our advisor. They are all so great, and it will be hard to part with them come graduation. It was a bittersweet moment to be sure, but the school is in good hands next year, I'll tell ya that.

Who would have thought that a group of such different individuals would become one crazy cohesive team of leaders? Not me. But we did, and I sure do love them lots.

Leaning on Faith

Last Friday, I opened my mission call. I have been assigned to labor in the Buenos Aires North Mission. I will be speaking Spanish (my two years of German are really paying off haha), and leave for the Provo MTC June 17. Holy cats, Batman!! Is this even real? Never in my mind did I ever think I was going to Argentina! I don't think I ever even considered South America, really. But it's so cool. The more information I look up about the area, the more a perfect fit it seems for me. Minus the crime and stuff, but lets just ignore that for now, yeah?

My very good friend Tiffany Lemon recently posted on her blog the process she went through as she decided to serve a mission (it's super good. read it here), and it has inspired me to do the same. Well kinda. So here it goes...

I was met with opposition very shortly after I began preparing to start my mission papers clear back during the end November. A few days after getting my wisdom teeth out, I was hit quite strongly with feelings of doubt and confusion regarding my testimony. How did I know this was the true church? Was I just following blindly because I had grown up learning the gospel? How can I believe in something that seems so impossible? These thoughts hit me VERY suddenly and VERY deeply. I had never really received a "lightning strike" or an overwhelming burning in my bosom confirming what I had been taught was the truth... so did this mean that what I had been brought up being taught was wrong?
No, it did not. What I've learned in the months since then is the beauty of faith. Through a lot of struggling, frustration, pleading, searching, and blessings from a wonderful father, I have gained a deeper understanding of what faith is. Let me share.
1- FAITH IS NOT PERFECT KNOWLEDGE
Just as it states in Alma 32:21, faith is not a perfect knowledge. It is a hope for things which are not seen, which are true. In Romans 8:6-7, it says hope that is seen is not hope. That's a witness. (And from accounts from scriptures, a witness does not always guarantee strong members of the Gospel. Remember Laman and Lemuel?) In verse 7 it states, "But if we hope for that we see not, then we with patience wait for it" We are not going to receive a testimony simply because we want one, which bring me to my next point...
2- FAITH IS FOLLOWED BY ACTIONS
Faith without works is dead, it says so in James 2:17. How do we show our faith? Simple. By living the commandments we have been asked to follow. By going to church, paying tithing, visiting the temple, and living righteously. (Don't you just love the Primary answers? They're so plain yet so true.) We also show faith by experimenting on the word (see Alma 32:27). God does not want people to just blindly follow; if that were the case He wouldn't have given so many rather large books of scripture. So, are you already doing these things? Congratulations, you are acting on your faith. Go you.
3- PATIENTLY WAIT
This is so hard, especially when we live in a world where so many questions can be answered by a Google search. But I like to think of it this way: In the school of life, right now I'm about a third grader. Third graders don't know all that much. I just have to keep on living by the Gospel standards and experimenting on the word. Keep Calm and Morm-On.
4- RECOGNIZE HOW THE SPIRIT COMMUNICATES WITH YOU
I really like this article from the New Era. As much as I would like to, I do not feel the prompting of the Holy Ghost like a lightning bolt of spiritual goodness. And that is okay. Peace after going to the Temple, a moment of understanding in Seminary, a quick thought encouraging my to do something, those are often ways I feel the Spirit. Nothing big and grandiose. It's small and simple.
5- DON'T UNDERESTIMATE YOUR TESTIMONY
Don't let the adversary tempt you to doubt what you already know to be true. Remember the work you have put in. Write stuff down so you're less likely to forget.  You won't regret it.

While there is lot in this Church that is hard for me to grasp, I believe it speaks truth. Through following its principles it has made he happy. It has kept me safe. I don't know how I will be able to share the Gospel with the Argentine people when I'm so young and unseasoned, but I have the faith to go out and share what I know. And I am so excited.

almost halfway through December and still no snow

Okay. So if you know me well, you should know that I despise snow. Like a lot. It is tolerable up in the mountains for a few months (I'll admit skiing isn't too bad) and for about a week or two out on the lawn BUT ONLY IN THE TIME FROM CHRISTMAS TO NEW YEARS, after that it gets real old real fast. And there's only a week and a half to Christmas! Oh the excitement. So if snow doesn't come down quick, Brock will not be amused.
Does it seem like all these months are just flying by this year? Because it seems like that too me! November was soooo busy and stressful (I know I keep saying that, but its always true), what with organizing our school food drive, the school musical, as well as getting my wisdom teeth pulled out, and I'm glad to be done with it all. Only five and a half months before I graduate high school and get thrown into the real world! Crazy crazy crazy.

Foooooooooood glorious foooooood

I had the neat opportunity to be in charge a school-wide food donation drive for the Cache Valley Food Pantry, which went on for just about the whole month of November. In case you were wondering, yes it is a lot of work! But it was really successful. We collected well over 5,000 cans which will go to help those in the community who are less fortunate. Isn't that awesome? Definitely a great time to be a Mustang!

110 in the Shade

So I wrapped up my last show here in high school. It's weird to think that, at least for the rest of my time at Mountain Crest,  I have no more auditions, no more lines to memorize, no more rehearsals, no makeup (and I'm 100% okay with that), no more performances, and lots and lots of time on my hands. It's actually kind of nice to leave the school and have the sun still be out:)
I'll be honest, it wasn't my most favorite show to be in, but 110 in the Shade definitely taught me a couple things, like humility and enduring to the end. I started off the show with a pretty bad attitude and not very much motivation, but through lots of prayer I made it through and actually had some fun with it.
I also learned that I can play a 60ish year old man! So that's news.

#wisdomteethprobs
Better now rather than later, right? I'm glad I don't have to worry about going through THAT again. ughh. Here's a video right after my surgery. When the world was still a wonderful place.

enjoy:)
-Brock

Wait... October is Over?

Times flies when one's having fun, right? Well, this month has been super fun. Lots of stuff going on, lots of stress, but lots of entertainment to be had.

Park City 

For for UEA break this year Mom and Dad took me and Audrey down to Park City. Audrey and I decided to take a more adventurous route this time and went on the ZipRider at the Park City Mountain Resort, which was stinkin' fun! It was our first time on a zipline that wasn't of the backyard variety. Oh no, this was 110 feet above the ground with speeds traveling up to 45mph (NOTE: this is was it says on the website, I don't think I went that fast personally, but what do I know?). 

We also went and shopped around the outlets. For probably the first time and last time ever, Dad and I spent more than Mom and Audrey. But in our defense, we got a killer deal at GH Bass so it was worth it.

 

Sadie Hawkins

McCall was simply the greatest. We danced the night away.We partied hard. We had a chocolate fountain. Got any more questions?

 

La Caille

La Caille is a French restaurant locate near the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon. It's a pretty pricy little place, but Mountain Crest goes on a field trip every year and gets a good discount, so I decided to go. To be honest, I found the venue a bit over-the-top and out of place, but the food I got was SUPER good!



...well, minus the escargot. But I had to get it just to say I've tried it!

 

All State Choir

I just love music, don't you? I love the way it can change you emotionally and engage you mentally. I'm so grateful the man upstairs blessed me with the ability to appreciate music as well as some talent within the field:)
With that being said, last weekend held some experiences I definitely will never forget! All Sate Choir, for those of you who don't know, is basically a gathering of some of the best high school choral talent from around the state, culminating in a big performance that takes place on Temple Square. This year the choir held over 600 voices! Crazy huge, right!? But it was so great. So great.

Building Up to the Concert...
Mountain Crest is really fortunate and is allowed to take quite a few more kids down than others to participate in the choir. This year we had 21 students go. We got our music a couple weeks after school started. That may seems like we had a long time to practice the music, but in reality it's only a little more than a month. And trying to memorize six songs (not to mention two were in Latin) is tricky. But we all managed to make it through regional pass-offs, and we were on our jolly way to performing in the tabernacle with the rest of the state.

Before actually performing in the tabernacle, we spent two days practicing all together at Riverton High School in Murray. Last Friday we spent a total of 9.5 hours in rehearsal! Do you know how much that drains a person? A lot. We were sooooo ready to be done.

 

But just because we were mentally exhausted doesn't mean we could have some fun!

The Concert

Like I said before, the concert was in the tabernacle on Temple Square. After our midday rehearsal, we had the rest of the afternoon to do as we chose.

After taking some group pics, all of us from MCHS went to this pizzeria called Settebello's a couple of blocks away. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. And I don't even like pizza! There was also this gelato place right next door which was equally as satisfying. Oh, what wouldn't I give for some lemon biscotti right now...

...but anywho, after we finished filling our gobs Anna, Katie, Sam, and I decided to go over to the visitors center.

We can always use a reminder on what great blessings we have received through the life and Atonement of our Savior. I love this gospel!

 

Just to let you know, singing in the tabernacle is just so cool! I loved loved loved it. I was on the very back row, so I pretty much had the best vantage point in the whole place.

I told I had the best seat! We ended up filling up almost the whole tabernacle. Do you know how many people can fit into the tabernacle? Me neither. But it's a lot, trust me.

 

Well, that's about it for right now. Hope you all have a grrrrrrrrreat day! Remember who you are, and always remember to eat your veggies:)

Homecoming 2014

This last week has got to be one of the busiest weeks of the whole school year. There is so much that goes on during homecoming week! Especially for SBOs. I was really scared about how my grades would look by the end of the week (I know its only the fourth week of school, but the homework load is already leaps and bounds bigger than it ever was last year), but fortunately someone up above was watching out for me, and I've been able to stay on top of it all:)

the Dance
Ally and I had a killer time at the dance. We both have been sick for the past couple days, but we didn't let that stop us!

because first things first, we're the illest:)

All photo credits goes to our wonderful photographer, Dad. We took the pictures by  Cache Valley's notorious Haunted Swings. These swings are part of some urban legend up here. I guess the story goes that someone hung themselves on the swings...? I don't really know. I'm too lazy to look the story, but yeah. I've gone up there a couple of times for mutual because a member of our bishopric owns the property they're on, and I for one have never seen any paranormal activity over there. So take that as you will.